Nitro

The wrist injury is no excuse. Jumpshooting has never been his strongest asset as a scorer, and when he has a wrist injury he should be ruthlessly attacking the rim and getting to the FT line 10+ times a game. He's not doing that. And JYD, you said he doesn't do anything else besides score...he's getting paid max money in the city of New York. Anything less than him either giving his 25PPG on good efficiency or doing a lot of other things to help his team win when he isn't scoring should be unacceptable. Period. No excuses, not for a player whose team and fanbase has invested so much money and mental exhaustion in.

Happy anniversary! Major props to you, Brandon. I respect the hell out of how you built this site and how dedicated you are. I've been a member on so many forums who showed a ton of promise, but at the slightest hint of trouble the owners bailed (or sold the site, like when the original BBW was sold to Sportstwo for quite a chunk of change...that sucked). You've stayed one of, if not THE most dedicated basketball site owner I've ever seen. Crazy respect. I came to this site in the middle of high school, somewhere in 2007. I always enjoyed coming here, and ended up being on the writing team for a minute, but I was a member of too many sites and had school and whatnot. Came back maybe 2 years ago and haven't left. It's a very tight, mature community, and the basketball discussion is always top-notch. Nice to see us still going strong.

I've gotten to see them twice in person, 3rd row back, and they are very impressive. They have tremendous ball movement, no really selfish ball-stoppers, and a bunch of players who know how to put the ball in the basket. Their most important asset is their defense, but that can be saved for another topic. I am still a firm believer, though, in having an elite go-to scorer in the post-season, specifically the 4th quarter. The game slows down, team gear-up on defense, and more often than not you need that one guy you can throw the ball to and know he'll almost always make the right play (or turn nothing into something). Iggy can sometimes be that guy, but he just isn't consistent enough in that role. I'd like to see if Turner or Williams can turn into that player.

I remember reading last night they offered 4 year, $50M, and he wanted 4 years and $58M (I may have gotten the years wrong, though). This is actually an interesting situation in many aspects. First off, Stern having the control and making the CP3 deal puts all the pressure on him to make this work in one way or another, or else he could have destroyed the team's future. He could possibly either let a healthy Gordon sign somewhere else and not allow the Hornets to match the offer sheet, or he could sign Gordon with a possibly lingering knee issue to a bad, max (or near-max) deal. Of course, there is also the option that he is healthy and stays with the Hornets, but there is a lot of ways this could go wrong, with all the blame falling on the commisioner. As for Gordon, if I were him I'd simply find the highest offer and sign the deal. If the Hornets match, they match. I've heard some people talking about him take the QO to become unrestricted after next season, but that is too much of a gamble for a young player with possible knee problems that hasn't had his big payday yet.

Rofl I didn't even notice that, wow...

I agree Bowen deserves it over Horry if we are talking strictly their Spurs' careers, but Horry's impact in Game 5 against Detroit in the 2005 Finals and then his hip check on Nash in 2007 (when the Suns had all the momentum) that caused the suspensions of Amare/Diaw likely brought the Spurs their last 2 championships.

Wtf? If you post this kind of thing anywhere, do it in like the Random Thread, or create a new thread called "NBA pictures" or something and post this shit there. This didn't need it's own topic.

I'm kinda shocked...he's been amazing this season, and has been probably their 2nd best player. His game really meshes perfectly with Dwight's (even though that likely won't be the case much longer).

I see that too, and it costs them against Milwaukee and almost against Detroit, which they can't afford since Chicago is still a few games ahead in the standings. With Wade, they still play lazy against bad teams, but when you add such a significant talent upgrade, they still end up overwhelming those teams regardless. Without Wade, it puts a lot of pressure on LeBronto randomly turn it on in the 3rd or 4th to put the game away, and if he's simply having an off-night, it usually results in a loss.

Isn't this esstentially the same injury as Kobe has? The same Kobe who is averaging 30PPG? And this is in Deng's not shooting hand, correct? It's not like he does a lot of things off the dribble with his left hand, which is the only area on the basketball court a wrist injury to the off-hand will seriously affect a perimeter player. He can be a physical defender, and he may shy away from that a bit with this injury, but overall I wouldn't be too concerned if he played. Besides, having HCA is the only way I can see this team beating the Heat, and while I still think they'll be fine without him, they might lose that opportunity if they sit him a few weeks/a month.

I'm assuming this part is aimed toward me. No, he wasn't as important as Tim, Manu and Tony during those runs (you can make a case for him being ahead of Manu/Parker in 2003, though I'd still take Robinson over him in terms of importance there). I don't underappreciate the value of lockdown defense, but I feel it's value is overrated. It is very difficult to stop an elite perimeter player without terrific help defense, and Bown had the very best defense over the course of the decade backing him up. And as good as a defense is, those elite perimeter players still will tend to have good games at least half the time in a series. And as good of a shooter Bowen became, he still was primarily useful only in the corner, and couldn't create his own shot. Offensively he was completely, 100% dependant on Duncan/Manu/Parker to get his looks. He never passed or rebounded particularly well, either. As I said, he was a near-perfect role player, but IMO role players like him shouldn't have their jersey's retired.

I think all the spots are filled, we just finished the signups/tryouts a few weeks ago. However, I'd make up an article and submit it to Real Deal, and when one of the writers inevitably stops writing articles, you'll have a good shot at stepping in. Btw, the benefits of being an OTR writer is some serious shit...free health care and you get paid in Trident Layers. It's serious, dawg.

Yikes...sorry bout that.

It doesn't matter, much different playing styles, and Rubio is a ROOKIE with much greater physical tools, which allows for a lot more growth. What's ridiculous isn't so much the Calderon comparison, it's the "no room for improvement" thing.

Yeah I saw this 2 days ago. It's hilarious, but pretty much everything he said is on point. Just think, though...if he went off this hard over the Knicks, imagine what he'd do if you [expletive]ed with his cheese doodles

Man to man defense- Artest. Bowen was probably better at contesting jumpers and doing some of the smaller things, but Artest was so physical and was the more smothering defender. They were about equally quick, but Artest had a much thicker frame, so he was able to bother guys like Pierce and LeBron more than Bowen could. Artest also had freakishly quick hands, so he was able to force more turnovers and would deflect passes that had a way of disrupting offensive flow. Perimeter defense- Don't really know what you mean here with your other 2 questions. If you're talking help defense, Bowen was better. He had a higher IQ and always knew where to be on the floor in proper defensive position, while Artest would sometimes gamble or miss the occasional rotation. Low post defense- Artest. Much stronger and aggressive. Overall player- Depends on what your team needs offensively. If you got a strong offensive team already and just need a great defender who can knock down 3's, Bowen is your guy. If your team needs more help than just a spot-up 3pt shooter offensively, then Artest is your guy.

Ummm...that's absolutely ridiculous. Kid is 21 years old and averaging 11/9/5 and 2.5 steals as a rookie. The biggest weakness in his game, shooting, is one of the easiest things a player can improve on. He's got good length for a PG, decent quickness, great court vision, a good rebounder, a very good defender, and early on he has hit a number of clutch shots. Again, he's a 21 year old rookie. He'll improve. To say otherwise, barring an injury, is crazy.

Collison- 0 assists. Pacers overall- 8 assists. You don't win like that in the NBA.

I don't get the Demarcus Cousins thing...over Marc Gasol? Cousins is putting up worst stats on a losing team, while the Grizzlies are one of the better teams out West.

Nene isn't playing center this year, Mozgov is...at least in the games I've seen. Andrew Bynum, Al Jefferson, Marc Gasol and maybe Samuel Dalembert deserve it over Jordan. If Billups makes the team I'm going to murder someone.

Fixed.

If the Wizards want to get rid of Blatche, then Otis Smith and David Kahn should be on speed-dial. If neither of them bite on that trade, then there is no hope.

I don't doubt Phil played a big part in facilitating the feud, but Shaq and Kobe were both very wrong for running with it. And once they ran with it and Phil needed them to pull back the reigns, the team was too far gone. Everyone was at fault for what happened.

I actually really like the Pierce trade. For Memphis, it is high risk trading a young 20PPG scorer for a star on the decline, but Pierce would fit in really well and could make Memphis the favorites in the West (which they aren't far from now). As the article mentioned, he is a better perimeter shooter than Gay, and he is a better iso scorer, better passer, and still a good defender for his position. He is also clutch as hell and could give the team some veteran leadership. For Boston, they get younger, and the Rondo/Gay combo could make them a scary transition team.

It's totally based around his health. If his current injury won't seriously affect him long-term, I'd give him max money. No big-name FA's want to come to NO, so much like Memphis giving Rudy Gay a max deal, I think it'd be smart to do everything they can to keep Gordon. I hate David Stern having all the power in this signing.